The books The Wild Robot and The Girl and The Wolf are both about connections that would normally not be made. In both of the books, the main characters lives are impacted by animals in the woods and the relationships that are formed change the main characters lives forever.
The Wild Robot
The Wild Robot amazed me and made many emotions arise within me. This book is a true masterpiece and demonstrates the relationships that can truly impact and change ones life. In the beginning of this book we start out with one character, a robot, who is named Roz and we continue to follow her journey throughout the book. She is washed upon the shore in a wooden crate and is turned on by accident by an animal that lives on the island that she has washed up on. This island plays a huge role in the rest of the book and the animals that live on it do as well. When she begins her journey on this island, she is turned away from and everyone thinks she is a monster without even trying to get-to-know her. Later, her life and her role on the island changes drastically.
Peter Brown made these characters truly believable by the emotions that were poured into each character. When reading this book, the reader is able to easily connect with the characters and feel the emotions and changes each one is going through especially Roz and her son Brightbill, who is a gosling. The capability Brown offers of feeling and connecting to the characters makes the story seem like a reality and feel believable. Also, the amount of detail Brown includes makes the reader feel like they are apart of the story and on the island with the rest of the characters. The whole time, as the reader, I was waiting to find out what was going to happen at the end and wanting to know how the lives of Roz and the other animals was going to end. This book also made many connections to life. There are a variety of relationships that we make throughout our lifetime and each one impacts us greatly. This is another reason this book is so believable because each relationship Roz forms is a relationship that someone has had as well. Not with animals, but with people in real life.
The setting of this book also plays a huge role in this story. The setting of this book is on an island that is filled with animals, foliage, mountains, waterfalls, and caves. The main point of the importance of this setting is it is definitely not where Roz was suppose to end up or in the beginning belong. She cannot swim, she does not know where to live or how to live in the woods, and she did not know how to talk to the animals. Later, when making the relationships with the other animals, she learns that with their help she can accomplish many of the things she could not when she first arrived. Because of the setting she was in, she had to learn how to build a home for her and her son, she had to learn how to become a mother, she had to learn how to grow plants, and she had to learn how to survive on an island that was not suitable for a robot. The island made her learn and change into the robot she never knew she could be. It made her learn how to communicate with animals and how to become the best mother she could be for Brightbill. If it was not for this setting, Roz would have not learned all the things she did or create the meaningful relationships this whole book is based off of.
The meaning this book conveyed to me is that we cannot judge a book by it’s cover. I know that sounds very cliche, but it is so true for this book. When Roz first arrived everyone thought she was a monster and they should stay away from her. As they began to know her better, they realized she was no monster and only wanted to create meaningful relationships with the animals on the island and she wanted to be the best mother she could be for her son. This book is very worthwhile for elementary/middle school aged students because it definitely teachers them the meaning of getting to know someone before casting judgement on them. This could be on a student who is new to the school or someone they would never see themselves being friends with. This book is great for any age because it makes you realize the importance of getting to know someone and who they truly are.
The theme that was shown greatly in this book is love. This was shown throughout the entire book from when Roz found the gosling and knew she had to take care of it and when her, when others helped her learn how to survive in the wild , and when her friends had to come together to stay safe in the winter. Another theme that was shown was breaking the definition of what a normal family would look like. This is shown when Roz takes on the role of being Brightbill’s mother. At one point in the book, Brightbill is around the other goslings in the pond and they begin to laugh at him and call his mother a monster. When this happens Roz sits down with him and explains that she is not his birth mother, but “there are many kinds of mothers” (125). During this chapter of the book that is “The Strange Family” Roz is given the opportunity to show that they are not a normal family, but they are a family and she loves Brightbill just like his birth mother would. Brown also does a great job by writing, “There are may kinds of mothers. Some mothers spend their whole lives caring for their young. Some lay eggs and immediately abandon them. Some care for the offspring of other mothers. I have tried to act like your mother, but no, I am not your birth mother” (125). This quote shows the role that every mother, not just an animal, can play in their child’s life.
The Girl and The Wolf
The Girl and The Wolf is about a girl who has to rely on a wolf to help her get out of the woods. This relationship is not what the girl was looking for, but was exactly what she needed. The theme in this book is independence. The girl is told not travel far into the woods especially since it is about to be dark outside. When she has found that she is lost, a wolf is there to greet her and to help her find her way back home. Once she has met the wolf, he teaches her how to become more independent by helping her realize she can do things on her own like find food and find her way home. There times in the book where the wolf asks the girl questions about what can she eat or if she sees anything that she recognizes. When both of these questions are asked to her she says she doesn’t know. The wolf then has her close her eyes, take a deep breath, and then look again. When she does this, she recognizes that she can eat the berries and drink the stream water and she also sees trees that are around the camp site. The girl’s journey through this book is about becoming more independent and making decisions on her own. By the end of the story, when she recognizes the trees, she is running and realizes the wolf is no longer next to her. This is when she gained her true independence. She found that she no longer needed a guide for the rest of the journey and was fine on her own.
The illustrations and details in this book make the story seem believable. Each picture and the detail it includes matches with the words on each page and you can visually see where the girl is drinking the water from the stream. Also on page 8, the author writes about the wolf having big white teeth. The picture that follows shows the reader the wolf with his teeth showing to truly capture the moment of when the girl meets the wolf.
Connections Between Stories
The connections these two stories share are the relationships that are made between the main character and the other characters in the book. Both of the main characters in the books, Roz and the girl, both meet unlikely companions to help them. Once the main characters find the help they need, they are able to reach their goals in the book. An example of this is Roz finds Brightbill and decides to become his mother. When this relationship is formed, other animals start to help Roz take care of him by helping build a home and helping her make more friendships. In The Girl and The Wolf , the girl meets a wolf in the woods and is at first afraid but finds the wolf as her guide out of the woods. Her relationship that is formed with the wolf is her way of getting the help she needs to get back home.
When reading these two books, I saw many similarities between Roz and the wolf. When first meeting Roz and the wolf, people thought they were monsters and that they should stay away from them. As The Wild Robot progresses, the animals in the woods find that Roz is no threat to them and actually wants to make friendships with the other animals on the island. They also find that she is very helpful and can do many things on the island like help build huts, make a fire, and grow a garden. In The Girl and The Wolf, the girl sees that the wolf is there to help her and she becomes less afraid of him. She finds that he wants to assist her back home and he helps her find food and water as well. Another similarity they both share are acting like parents. Roz does become a parent and helps Brightbill survive by feeding him and building him a home. She also teaches/helps him learn how to fly and she becomes his greatest supporter. The wolf demonstrates examples of being a parent when he begins to support the girl on her journey home. When the girl is confused about what to do like looking for food or looking around to see what she recognizes, he has her to close her eyes, breathe in and breathe out, and then open her eyes again to see what she finds. By doing this is taking on the role of a parent by teaching her she can do things on her own, but still needs a little guidance.
Teaching Application
These books go great with one another because they are both about unlikely friendships and relationships that are made. These books are different from each other, but also the same when looking at the underlying meaning of each one. Both of the book would be great to include in a classroom and to have a discussion on. The class could talk about the themes that the books share, the comparisons of the characters in each book, the roles that each character plays, and how the topics of the books can relate to real life events. The students would have to think meaningfully to discuss these topics and to create ideas from each book.
I could foresee my self using these books in my future classroom. I would use it more in upper elementary levels or in sixth grade. These books contain so much meaning and the content is very impactful. The students would love these books and the topics that we would cover are topics that the students could apply to their lives, especially at this age. Many of them are learning/wanting to fit in or wanting to become more independent and both of the books can play a huge role in this part of life. Also having discussions about the different characters and the roles they play in the community would help the students learn that everyone has a unique reason for being on this planet.
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